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“Duke, no!”
The shout came from Kat’s left as she was leaving Lenora’s house. She turned to see Kylie being dragged across Veronica’s front lawn by her rambunctious terrier.
Kat walked over to them. “Is everything okay?”
“Duke’s being a pain.” Kylie grimaced as Duke strained against the end of his leash. “He always gets like this when he sees that feral cat who lives around here.”
Kat peered around. She didn’t see Mustang anywhere, but there were plenty of places for him to take cover.
“Duke is always trying to get that poor cat to play with him,” Kylie said, pulling on Duke’s leash.
Duke barked, but Kat didn’t know if it was in agreement or protest.
“Where is the feral now?” Kat asked.
“He’s hiding in Ronnie’s bushes there.”
Kat crouched down to get a better look behind the bushes. She caught a glint of something back there, but she didn’t think it was a cat.
Duke barked again. Then, before Kat could even register what was happening, he took off in a flash, the leash trailing behind him.
“Duke!”
Kylie lunged for her end of the leash, but Duke was too fast for her. He made a beeline for the bushes, crashing into them with all the grace of a cannonball. Sure enough, Mustang rocketed into view. The terrified gray cat took one look at the humans then veered left and sprinted toward Veronica’s backyard.
Duke tore after the feline. Kylie chased Duke, and Kat brought up the rear. Kat didn’t think she could help much, but it seemed wrong to abandon Kylie when the poor girl was in crisis.
“Duke!” Kylie yelled.
To Kat’s surprise, Duke started heading back in their direction. Either he’d had a change of heart or he feared the consequences if he continued to disobey his human.
When he reached Kylie he jumped up and down, yapping and squirming as if his excitement was too great to be contained.
Kylie bent down and shook her finger at him. “You are a bad dog!”
Duke woofed, then, just as Kylie was reaching for his leash, he took off again.
“Ugh!” Kylie ran after him once more.
Duke must have forgotten about Mustang because this time he confined himself to Veronica’s front lawn. He frolicked to and fro, barking up a storm as Kylie tried to grab his leash. He looked as if he were having so much fun that Kat couldn’t help but laugh.
A minute of playing ‘keep away from Kylie’ was enough to wear Duke out. He finally stopped running and started sniffing the grass.
Kylie stomped over to him and snatched his leash off the ground. She hooked the loop around her wrist before lifting Duke up and holding him at eye level. “You are in big trouble, you stinker. No treats for you when we get back home.”
Duke whimpered, then licked her face.
Kylie giggled as she planted a kiss on his head. “Oh, you know I can’t stay mad at you.”
Something caught Kat’s eye in the grass. She stepped closer to get a better look.
“What is it?” Kylie asked.
“It looks like a watch.” Kat wondered if that was what she had seen behind the bushes. Maybe Mustang had picked it up somewhere only to drop it when Duke gave chase. Imogene had mentioned the feral’s proclivity for stealing Veronica’s things.
Except, this looked like a man’s watch, Kat thought as she plucked it off the ground.
Kylie set Duke down and leaned over Kat’s shoulder. “Hey! That’s Shaun’s. It must have fallen out of his pocket when he was on his way to the Duncans’.”
Kat handed the watch to Kylie. “How come you’re not at the Duncans’ party?”
“Oh, I don’t know. The whole thing is so ghoulish. I mean, I didn’t like Lenora, but to rejoice because she’s dead?”
“I know what you mean.”
“I was hoping Shaun wouldn’t go either.” Kylie frowned as she looked over at the Duncans’ house. “He’s never one to miss a party, but still.”
Duke began snuffling in the grass again. Kat wasn’t sure if he was looking for the watch or trying to pick up Mustang’s scent. Or, for all she knew, he was hunting for food.
“Kylie!”
Shaun waved from the Duncans’ driveway. Duke’s little tail set to wagging as Shaun started in their direction.
“How was the party?” Kylie asked when Shaun reached her side.
“All right.” He snaked his arm around her waist and kissed her forehead. “It would have been better if you were there.”
“Hey, look what Kat found.” Kylie held up the watch.
“Oh, wow.” Shaun grabbed it from her. “Where was it?”
“Right here in the grass. I think that feral cat had it, but Duke scared him into dropping it.”
Shaun stuffed the watch into his jeans pocket and reached down to tousle Duke’s fur. “Good boy.”
Duke barked and ran circles around Shaun’s feet, clearly pleased by the praise.
“Hey now.” Shaun grinned as he worked to disentangle himself from Duke’s leash. “You’re going to trip me if you’re not careful.”
But Duke didn’t seem to care. He kept yapping and jumping as if Shaun’s reappearance was the most exciting thing to happen to him this year. Kylie giggled, her arm bouncing up and down every time Duke stretched the limits of his leash.
Kat’s eyes were on the trio, but her brain was elsewhere. Something about that watch was nagging at her. She could swear she had seen it somewhere before, and recently.
And then it hit her like a punch to the gut. Scattered images from the past twenty-four hours collided in her head. When they settled, they all fell into place like a jigsaw puzzle.
And at that moment, she knew exactly who had killed Lenora.
